A Line Clip for Your Tenkara Rod

Ever wonder what to do with your line when you’re moving from spot to spot? If you need to go through brush, the best thing to do is collapse the rod and either remove the line and wind it around a tenkara spool or around your EZ Keepers. But sometimes, you don’t need to collapse the rod and just want a way to hold your line while you scout out the next spot.

While at my local Bass Pro Shops, I discovered some pretty neat line clips that are really designed for baitcasting and spinning rods, but I think might be of some interest to tenkara anglers.

The line clips attach to your tenkara rod with an adhesive backing. The adhesive is strong enough to remain secure on the rod, yet still removable without damage to the finish.

Simply peel off the backing on the adhesive and place wherever you'd like on your tenkara rod

You simply clip your line into it and move on. On caveat: notice I say “line” instead of “tippet”. I find that these clips will hold the thicker tenkara furled or level lines well, but they’re not so great on thinner tippet. Something like a 6x tippet is just too thin and the clips will not hold it very tightly. I suppose some might still find it better than holding the tippet with your hand which could lead to potentially hooking yourself. But I would only recommend these clips for holding your line.

The clips will kind of hold a tippet, though not as tightly as I'd like

While these line clips may or may not work for you, I thought I’d just throw the idea out there. At only $3 for a pack of six, most of us could probably outfit our entire tenkara arsenal for less that a Starbucks latte. It just might be worth a try.

How do you stow your line when moving between spots?

About the author

Jason Klass

Jason is an avid fly angler and backpacker. As a former fly fishing guide originally from Western New York, he moved to Colorado and became an early adopter of tenkara which perfectly suited the small, high altitude streams and lakes there. He has not fished a Western-style fly rod for trout since.

8 Comments

November 21, 2011 at 9:28 pm

Paul Vertrees

Looks like a neat little clip. I now use the EZ Keepers, and really like them, especially since they also give me a way to secure my fly. I’ve used the EZs with the rod deployed and collapsed and they work great either way.

Jason, for a tenkara angler you definitively seems to spend a lot of time at the Bass Pro Shop… lol. Nifty idea, keep’em coming. Is the back of that thingy curved to fit the curvature of the blank?

November 22, 2011 at 2:03 pm

john n

nice find, Jason.
I still plan to try the zip tie idea next…but the EZ keepers cann’t be the only ‘game in town’ for on the rod storage.

thanks for looking!

November 22, 2011 at 2:05 pm

Harold

You could add a little tape, or sticky-back foam to the inside of the clip to take up some slack so it will hold a tippet securely.

November 22, 2011 at 7:34 pm

Jason Klass

Hi Harold, good idea. I didn’t think of that.

November 22, 2011 at 7:39 pm

Jason Klass

Ha ha. Sometimes I have to go to Bass Pro on non-tenkara related business but I always check the fishing section just to see if there is anything interesting I can apply to tenkara. I’m still hoping one day I find orange fluorocarbon there! The clips are not curved but are so thin that they seem to adhere to the blank just fine.

Jason Klass is a former fly fishing guide & casting instructor based in Colorado. He was an early adopter of tenkara in the West and has been fishing the method for a variety of species since 2009. Read more >>